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Ebola outbreak ebbs, Marburg lingers

Jun 17, 2005 (CIDRAP News) – Efforts to contain an outbreak of Ebola hemorrhagic fever appear to be succeeding in the Republic of the Congo, but the longer-running Marburg fever outbreak in Angola is still claiming victims, according to the World Health Organization (WHO).

In the Republic of the Congo, 12 Ebola cases and 9 deaths were reported in Cuvette Ouest Region between Apr 25 and Jun 16, the WHO said yesterday. Investigators identified 11 possible contacts of the last person to die of Ebola, who died May 26, the WHO said. All of those contacts have been monitored for 21 days, the maximum incubation period for Ebola.

"None of these people has been infected," the WHO reported.

The health ministry and the WHO regional office are working on ongoing infection control and education about Ebola in the affected districts. This has been one of the smallest recorded outbreaks of Ebola since tracking began in the mid-1970s, according to the CIDRAP overview of viral hemorrhagic fevers.

Meanwhile, Angola's struggle with the largest recorded Marburg outbreak continues, the WHO reported today.

The ministry of health reported a total of 422 cases, of which 356 were fatal, in Uige province as of yesterday, the WHO said. The agency didn't give a total for Angola as a whole. The previous update on Jun 7 said the nation had had 423 cases with 357 deaths. Of those, 412 cases, 346 of them fatal, occurred in Uige province.

Tracking of potential Marburg cases and contacts continues, and the task is difficult. Twenty-one contacts are being monitored in Uige city, but another 111 contacts are being followed in other parts of the province, the WHO noted. In addition, a team of healthcare workers was preparing to travel by helicopter to investigate reports of possible Marburg cases in especially remote areas.